Tsarina Maharani, Jakarta – House of Representatives (DPR) Commission III member Taufik Basari from the National Democratic Party (Nasdem) has criticised the sentences demanded by the Balikpapan state prosecutor in a recent case of alleged makar (treason, subversion, rebellion) over the Morning Star flag being flown by Papuans.

Devina Halim, Jakarta – Wahid Foundation Director Yenny Wahid believes that flying the Morning Star flag is not an act of makar (treason, subversion, rebellion) and that the Papuan people have a special right to use regional symbols as enshrined under law.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) and the Civil Society Coalition have highlighted the government’s bias towards employers and business in the Draft Omnibus Law on Job Creation.

Wahyu Setiawan, Valda Kustarini, Jakarta – Amnesty International believes that resolving cases of human rights violations in Papua is more important than creating a new province. Amnesty Executive Director Usman Hamid says that this is not the right solution for Papua at the moment.

Leon Kastayudha – Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie died on September 12 at the age of 83. As the third president of Indonesia, his administration straddled the upheavals of Suharto’s New Order regime and reformasi – the political reform movement that began in 1998.

Jakarta – House of Representatives (DPR) Commission I Deputy Chairperson Satya Yudha believes that efforts by United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) Chairperson Benny Wenda to provoke the Papuan people resemble the scenario by Jose Ramos Horta when he invited the people of East Timor – now called Timor Leste – to separate from the Uni

Jakarta – Inter-faith religious leaders have called on the government to be careful in dealing with the problems in Papua.

Jakarta – Scores of Papuan students have again flown the Morning Star flag during a protest action demanding a referendum for Papua in front of the State Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday August 28. They also asked President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to meet with them.

Jakarta – The Morning Star flag was flown by more than 100 Papuan protesters from the Student Alliance Against Racism, Capitalism, Colonialism and Militarism during a rally in front of the Presidential Palace in Central Jakarta on Thursday August 22.

Mulia Ramdhan Fauzani – The word golput or white group – to abstain from voting – has been heard more frequently in concert with the approach of the 2019 legislative and presidential elections. The general narrative that is most often heard is that golput is that it is irresponsible.

Jakarta – Indonesian Institute of Science (LIPI) researcher Aisah Putri Badriati is surprised that neither presidential candidate raised the issue of West Papua in first presidential debate on January 17.

Muhammad Ifdhal, Banda Aceh – Aceh Regional House of Representatives (DPRA) Commission VIII chairperson Ghufran Zainal Abidin says that Indonesia’s western-most province rejects the Draft Law on the Elimination of Sexual Violence (RUU PKS) which is currently being deliberated by the House of Representatives (DPR).

Jakarta – Indonesian Institute for Science (LIPI) researcher Amin Mudzakir has revealed that that based on the results of a LIPI survey in 2018, there are three regions where there is a high-level of acceptance of fake news or hoaxes.

Budiarti Utami Putri, Jakarta – Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI) chairperson Grace Natalie has been reported to the national police headquarters criminal investigation bureau (Bareskrim Mabes Polri) for alleged blasphemy against religion.

Surya Anta – Increasingly broad mobilisations by the Papuan people in recent years shows that there must be a new assessment of West Papuan as an entity. An entity that should be, must be, recognised as a nation.

Jakarta – On Tuesday December 1 police blocked protesters from the Papua Student Alliance (AMP) who had come from throughout Java and Bali to demonstrate at the Hotel Indonesia (HI) traffic circle in Central Jakarta.

Cunding, Jayapura – As many as 30 Free Papua activists were arrested by police at a demonstration on the grounds of the Papuan Regional House of Representatives (DPRP) in Jayapura city, Papua, on Monday January 13.

Around 300 demonstrators from the Papua Student Alliance (AMP) gathered in front of the Negara Grahadi building in the East Java provincial capital of Surabaya on December 2 demanding that the Indonesian government give them the freedom to determine their own future as a democratic solution for the people of West Papua.

A group of West Papuan students from Solidarity for Papua (SUP) held a demonstration in front of the Abu Bakar Ali Park in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta on April 15.

MI/Rommy Pujianto/ip, Makassar – Student Solidarity Concern for the Papuan People (SMPRP) along with advocacy and human rights groups held a protest action in front of the Mandala Monument Commemorating the Liberation of West Irian on Jl. Jenderal Sudirman in the South Sulawesi provincial capital of Makassar on Monday March 25.